Gwrych Castle, Llanddulas Road, near Abergele

Gwrych Castle was built between 1812 and 1822 by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh as a memorial to his mother’s ancestors, the Lloyds of Gwrych. one of the first attempts at replicating true medieval architecture in Europe.

The only surviving child of Robert Bamford-Hesketh, Winifred Bamford Hesketh had been born an immensely wealthy heiress. Gwrych Castle formed the core of this fortune, but the estate itself stretched across much of North Wales into Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire. Winifred had an arranged marriage to, the 12th Earl of Dundonald, a Scottish nobleman who later acquired international fame by leading the charge at the Relief of Ladysmith, in the Boer War. The marriage was not entirely successful, and as a consequence, the Earl spent most of his time in Scotland, whilst his wife remained in Wales.